First Racking!
Racking wine? What is it? What does that mean? Well racking wine means to take the clearer wine out of barrel and leave behind the cloudier part. That is called the lees, which is wine that has not settled clear yet. We pump out the top 80% of a barrel and leave behind 20%. We then put the 20% into another container and let it settle out. Sometimes 50-25% of that will not settle out and it must be thrown away. We put the lees into the vineyard. The alcohol dissipates quit quickly and the bulk brakes down over time. It mainly consists of grapes parts, dead yeast and dust. All good for the soil. The clear wine or the 10%ish goes back into the barrel for more time in that barrel for ageing and more clarification time. Today is the first racking of the 2008 grapes crushed. It is a busy day but also a fun day because it will be the first time I will taste these young wines. It's a job and somebody has to do it!
